COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS: REPRESENTATIVES APPOINTED TO THE IGC CONVENTION.

The Committee of the Regions has appointed six representatives to the Inter-Governmental Conference preparatory Convention set up to debate what the future holds in store for the EU. The appointments have sought to strike a balance between the Committee's political groups and, and above all, underscore the domination of EU regions with legislative powers. The Committee's delegation comprises the following members:- Patrick Dewael (Belgium, ELDR), Minister-President of the Flemish Region- Jos Chabert (Belgium, EPP), Minister in the Brussels-Capital Region Government- Claudio Martini (Italy, PES), President of the Tuscany Region- Manfred Dammeyer (Germany, PES), MP from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia's Parliament- Eduardo Zaplana Hernandez-Soro (Spain, EPP), President of the Generalitat Valenciana- Claude du Granrut (France, EPP), Regional Councillor for Picardy and Deputy Mayor for Senlis.These representatives were picked by the Committee's new Bureau, the 40 members of which were elected during the February 6 inaugural plenary session. During the same sitting, the Committee's new President was elected in the person of the British Socialist Sir Albert Bore. Mr Bore said in his speech "our objective is to boost the prestige and standing of our Committee in the eyes of both EU institutions and the wider European public". He spoke about the major challenges facing the Committee...